(MENAFN- Arab Times) KIPCO - the Kuwait Projects Company - has announced a net profit of KD 23.7 million ($84.3 million), or 18.27 fils ($6.5 cents) per share for the first nine months of 2012 - an increase of 0.4 per cent on the KD 23.6 million ($85.7 million) profit, or 19.02 fils ($6.9 cents) per share, reported in the same period last year.
KIPCO's third quarter profit (for the three months ended Sept 30, 2012) of KD 6.6 million ($23.5 million) was a decrease of 7 per cent on the KD 7.1 million ($25.8 million) profit achieved in the third quarter of 2011.
KIPCO's total revenues for the first nine months of 2012 increased by 22 per cent to KD 323 million ($1.15 billion) compared to the KD 265 million ($962 million) reported for the first nine months of last year. The company also saw a rise in operating profit to KD 66 million ($235 million) for the first nine months of 2012 - an increase of 12 per cent from the KD 59.1 million ($215 million) reported in the first nine months of 2011.
KIPCO's consolidated assets increased in the first nine months of 2012, to KD 6.4 billion ($23 billion) from KD 5.9 billion ($21.2 billion) for the year-end 2011.
Tariq Abdulsalam, KIPCO's Chief Executive Officer - Investment, said KIPCO's third quarter results were consistent with the company's expectations:
"As expected, the underlying trends within our first quarter and half year results have continued into the third quarter, with our financial services, media and real estate companies showing consistent levels of growth in both revenue and profitability. Although our profits show only a slight year-on-year increase, our companies are demonstrating a high degree of resilience to difficult market conditions. If these trends continue until year-end, then we can expect to meet the financial targets we set for this year."
KIPCO, the country's largest investment company by assets, remains confident of meeting its full-year financial targets despite posting a 7 percent drop in third-quarter net profit on Monday.
It gave no reason for the decline but the Q3 results were in line with the company's expectations, with its financial services, media and real estate investments continued to show consistent levels of revenue growth, Tariq Abdulsalam, KIPCO's chief executive for investment, said.
Net profit for the first nine months of 2012 stood at 23.7 million dinars, a 0.4 percent increase on the 23.6 million dinars reported in the prior-year period.
The increase was boosted by a 22 percent rise in total revenue, with total assets also gaining to 6.4 billion dinars at the end of September compared to 5.9 billion dinars at the close of 2011.
Shares in KIPCO closed flat on Monday, maintaining year-to-date gains at 32.5 percent, outperforming the wider Kuwaiti bourse which hit an eight-year low on Sunday.
With an investment portfolio in 60 companies in 26 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, KIPCO earned a reputation for quality and excellence as a premier investment holding company.
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